Aligning the Goals of Learning Analytics with its Research Scholarship: An Open Peer Commentary Approach

To promote cross-community dialogue on matters of significance within the field of learning analytics (LA), we as editors-in-chief of the Journal of Learning Analytics (JLA) have introduced a section for papers that are open to peer commentary. An invitation to submit proposals for commentaries on the paper was released, and 12 of these proposals were accepted. The 26 authors of the accepted commentaries are based in Europe, North America, and Australia. They range in experience from PhD students and early-career researchers to some of the longest-standing, most senior members of the learning analytics community. This paper brings those commentaries together, and we recommend reading it as a companion piece to the original paper by Motz et al. (2023), which also appears in this issu

Aligning the Goals of Learning Analytics with its Research Scholarship: An Open Peer Commentary Approach

To promote cross-community dialogue on matters of significance within the field of learning analytics], we as editors-in- chief of the Journal of Learning Analytics have introduced a section for papers that are open to peer commentary. The first of these papers, “A LAK of Direction: Misalignment Between the Goals of Learning Analytics and its Research Scholarship” by Motz et al. (2023), appeared in the journal’s early access section in March 2023, a few days before the start of the 13th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (LAK ’23). “A LAK of Direction” takes as its starting point the definition of learning analytics used in the call for papers of the first LAK conference (LAK ’11) and used since then by the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR): “Learning analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments in which it occurs” (Long & Siemens, 2011, p. 24). Following the conference, an invitation to submit proposals for commentaries on the paper was released, and 12 of these proposals were accepted. This paper brings those commentaries togethe

Creative destruction in science

Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that initiatives to assess the robustness of findings in the organizational literature should aim to simultaneously test competing ideas operating in the same theoretical space. In other words, replication efforts should seek not just to support or question the original findings, but also to replace them with revised, stronger theories with greater explanatory power. Achieving this will typically require adding new measures, conditions, and subject populations to research designs, in order to carry out conceptual tests of multiple theories in addition to directly replicating the original findings. To illustrate the value of the creative destruction approach for theory pruning in organizational scholarship, we describe recent replication initiatives re-examining culture and work morality, working parents\u2019 reasoning about day care options, and gender discrimination in hiring decisions. Significance statement It is becoming increasingly clear that many, if not most, published research findings across scientific fields are not readily replicable when the same method is repeated. Although extremely valuable, failed replications risk leaving a theoretical void\u2014 reducing confidence the original theoretical prediction is true, but not replacing it with positive evidence in favor of an alternative theory. We introduce the creative destruction approach to replication, which combines theory pruning methods from the field of management with emerging best practices from the open science movement, with the aim of making replications as generative as possible. In effect, we advocate for a Replication 2.0 movement in which the goal shifts from checking on the reliability of past findings to actively engaging in competitive theory testing and theory building. Scientific transparency statement The materials, code, and data for this article are posted publicly on the Open Science Framework, with links provided in the article

Assessing the Stability and Replicability of the Associations between Goal Orientation and Self-Regulated Learning Strategies: A Pre-Registered Replication of Muis and Franco (2009)

In this pre-registered replication of findings from Muis and Franco [2009; Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34(4), 306-318], college students (N = 978) from across the United States and Canada were surveyed regarding their goal orientations and learning strategies. A structural equation modelling approach was used to assess the associations between goal orientations and learning strategies. Twelve of the sixteen associations (75%) tested by Muis and Franco replicated successfully in the current study. Mastery approach goals positively predicted endorsement of all learning strategies (Rehearsal, Critical Thinking, Metacognitive Self-Regulation and Elaboration). Performance avoidance goals negatively predicted critical thinking, while positively predicting metacognitive self-regulation and rehearsal. Evidence for moderation by assignment type was found. No evidence of the moderation of these associations by gender, underrepresented minority status, or course type (STEM, Humanities, or Social Sciences) was found. The reliability of common scales used in educational research and issues concerning the replication of studies using structural equation modeling are discussed